Vinita Damodaran: Decolonising the Natural History Collections of Empire

📖 The #FIREUSES team has published an article in Arcadia (Environment & Society Portal) on the role of farming and burning in changing Portuguese ‘fire landscapes’.

🔓 It can be read at https://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/rocas-and-queimadas-changing-landscapes-fire-twentieth-century-portugal

#Histodons #EnvHist #EnvironmentalHistory #RuralHistory #Farming #Fires #HistóriaAmbiental #HistóriaRural #Agricultura #OpenAccess #AcessoAberto #Roças #Queimadas #Fogo

Rapa Nui’s ecological decline coincided with prestige competition 🗿

Elite rivalry fueled resource use even as environmental strain increased. When incentive structures reward escalation, sustainability erodes.

Historical patterns are rarely simple — but they are revealing.

#EnvironmentalHistory #RapaNui #Brewminate

https://brewminate.com/the-logic-of-no-return-rapa-nui-prestige-competition-and-ecological-drain/

Rapa Nui Collapse and the Logic of No Return

How prestige competition and deforestation drove Rapa Nui past ecological tipping points and into irreversible social contraction.

Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas

The Aral Sea disaster is a case study in policy-driven collapse 🌊

Environmental warnings were dismissed while production goals continued. Data was downplayed. The shoreline retreated.

Ecosystems have limits. Institutions that deny them accelerate loss.

#EnvironmentalHistory #AralSea #Brewminate

https://brewminate.com/the-modern-aral-sea-disaster-data-denial-and-ecological-irreversibility/

Aral Sea Collapse and Data-Rich Denial

How scientific warnings failed to prevent the Aral Sea’s collapse and what data-rich denial reveals about modern environmental risk.

Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas

✍️ Está aberta a chamada para artigos do dossier temático "Culturas do Fogo", coordenado por Frederico Ágoas e Miguel Carmo e a ser publicado na Revista de História das Ideias. O dossier pretende focar-se nos quadros culturais, epistémicos e políticos através dos quais o fogo tem sido experienciado, contestado e representado através do tempo.

ℹ️ https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/chamada-historiaideias-2026/

#Histodons #CallForPapers #EnvironmentalHistory #SocialHistory #Fire #Wildfires #CulturalHistory #Fogo #Incêndios #FogosPT

New isotopic analysis suggests seabird guano wasn’t just fertilizer in pre-Inca Peru—it was a foundation of political power, fueling agricultural surplus and the rise of the Chincha Kingdom. #Archaeology #AncientPeru #EnvironmentalHistory #PreInca https://www.anthropology.net/p/bird-droppings-and-political-power
Bird Droppings and Political Power: How Guano Shaped a Pre-Inca Kingdom

When isotopes tell a story about fertilizer and empire in coastal Peru

Anthropology.net